New England Patriots
Drake Maye and the Patriots’ offense will have their hands full against a dynamic Texans defense that can generate plenty of pressure.
The New England Patriots will look to punch their ticket to the AFC title game next Sunday when they play host to the Houston Texans in the AFC divisional round on Sunday afternoon.
Kick-off from Gillette Stadium is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Drake Maye and the Patriots did enough to beat the Chargers and their stingy pass defense on Sunday in the AFC wild-card round. But New England’s offense will face arguably its toughest test of the season this weekend against a dynamic Houston defense.
Here are four things to know about Houston:
Houston’s elite defense is going to cause plenty of headaches for Maye.
The path to the Texans leaving Foxborough with an upset victory is pretty easy to visualize.
As dynamic as Maye and New England’s offense has been all season long, they haven’t faced a defense as relentless as Houston’s — which has made life miserable for multiple elite quarterbacks all season long.
Houston’s 12-5 record (and current 10-game winning streak) has been rooted in their defensive play, as evidenced by Monday’s 30-6 win over the Steelers where they generated two turnovers for touchdowns, sacked Aaron Rodgers four times, and limited Pittsburgh to just 175 net yards on offense.
The Texans will prevent plenty of issues for Maye and the Patriots — given both their potent pass rush anchored by Will Anderson Jr. (12.0 sacks) and Danielle Hunter (15.0 sacks), and a stout secondary headlined by All-Pro corner Derek Stingley Jr. (four interceptions).
Entering the playoffs, the Texans were first in the NFL in total defense (277 yards allowed per game) and second in scoring defense (17.4 points allowed per game) while also ranking third overall with 29 total takeaways on the year.
Maye might be forced to scramble early and often to avoid plenty of drive-killing sacks doled out by Hunter and Anderson, with Houston often generating plenty of pressure against opposing QBs without needing to dial up blitzes.
New England’s success this season was fueled by Maye generating several explosive plays per game. But Sunday could be another rock fight where the second-year QB will need to choose his battles and limit turnovers given the limited amount of time he’ll have to operate in the pocket.
During regular-regular action, the Texans faced off against eight teams who punched their ticket to the postseason. Of those eight games, six of Houston’s opponents finished with under 20 points — including the Rams (14 points scored), Jaguars (17 points), 49ers (15 points), and Bills (19 points).
Houston’s offensive line is in rough shape.
Fresh off a game against the Chargers where New England’s defense sacked Justin Herbert six times and generated 30 total pressures against LA’s porous offensive line, Milton Williams, K’Lavon Chaisson, and the rest of the Patriots’ “big dogs” have to be licking their chops at Sunday’s matchup against Houston.
For the second week in a row, New England’s defense will be matched up against one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.
Entering the playoffs, Houston’s offensive line ranks 30th in pass block win rate (55.4 percent) and 32nd in run block win rate (68.3 percent), which has contributed to the Texans’ relatively pedestrian showing on offense this season (13th in NFL with 23.8 points per game).
Texans QB C.J. Stroud had a rough game on Monday against Pittsburgh — getting knocked for three total turnovers and five overall fumbles in a lopsided victory. But the third-year QB’s mobility has alleviated some of Houston’s pass-protection woes, as 22 other QBs were sacked more than Stroud this past season.
However, Houston’s O-line still gives up a whole lot of pressure, and has played a key role in Houston’s lackluster running game and red-zone offense — which ranked 30th in the NFL in red-zone conversion rate at just 46.3 percent.
If Houston can’t get its running game going against New England’s stout run defense (30 yards allowed to Chargers running backs on Sunday), the onus is going to fall on Stroud to move the ball with throws down the field.
That task could be a bit tougher with Houston’s top pass-catcher in Nico Collins now in concussion protocol after getting injured during Monday’s win.
They’ve won the turnover battle on numerous occasions.
Stroud and the Texans might be a good — but not great — offensive unit. But they’ve rarely shot themselves in the foot this season due to their limited turnovers.
In total, Houston was only knocked for 12 turnovers (nine interceptions, three fumbles) during the regular season — with only the Bears committing fewer (11) on the year.
Houston’s turnover differential of +17 was second behind Chicago, while New England is a +3 on the season.
All things considered, Stroud’s three-turnover showing against Pittsburgh should be deemed more of an outlier than an area for New England to exploit, as DeMeco Ryans’ team doesn’t usually put itself behind the eight-ball on offense.
As such, Maye and New England’s offense are going to have to limit their own turnovers — especially after a game on Sunday where Maye fumbled the ball twice (one lost) and also was knocked for an interception within the Patriots’ own 20-yard line.
Maye has some familiarity with the Texans.
This will not be Maye’s first time facing off against the Texans.
The Patriots QB and MVP candidate made the first start of his NFL career against Houston last season, with the Texans handing New England a 41-21 defeat in Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season.
It marked Houston’s first win at Gillette Stadium after losing its first seven games in Foxborough, including an 0-2 showing in the postseason.
Despite that daunting matchup against an elite Houston defense, Maye completed 20-of-33 throws for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Maye was knocked for three turnovers as well, but the potential put on display was evident in the rookie QB.
“We care about winning. Just hate losing. That’s the big thing,” Maye said after that loss last October. “I think there’s some good things to take away from [the game, but] we’ve got to play complementary football, and we haven’t done that.”
Fair to say, the Patriots have figured those struggles out this season.
Sunday will also mark Stefon Diggs’s first game against his former team, with the veteran wideout catching six passes for 77 yards and a touchdown in that Texans win in Foxborough last season.
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